Silver Threads
by LadyHuntressOfBedlam
Summary: Things are not always as they seem. Sometimes dreams are real, and the nightmares lie in waking. [Set after season 3, primarily from Callum or Rayla's POV. Not Rated...Yet]
1. Prologue

"No no no, Rayla!" Callum shouted, but it was too late. Rayla and Viren had both vanished off the side of the peak and it was too late. There wasn't anything Callum could do to stop them.

The only thing he could do was jump after them.

The moment he was airborne, falling through the cloud behind them, he woke up in a cold sweat, back in his own bed. As he panted, looking for any sign of change, any indication that it had been real, that it wasn't just a dream, but he couldn't find any.

"It was a dream," he told himself, talking out loud, breathing deeply. "Just a dream."

But the real question was how much of it was a dream? Was Xadia a dream too? Magic dirt, adoraburrs, Zym, him learning magic...Rayla. Was it all a dream?

Making sure to be quiet, he crept across his bedroom floor, opened the door and peeked into Ezran's room. Inside he saw Bait and Ezran huddled together on the bed, deeply sleeping.

Callum heaved a sigh and crept back to his room, rolled back into his bed and tried to fathom the fact that it had all been a dream. How was he going to face anyone in the morning? Could he even look at Claudia again? Soren would still be keen on incessantly mocking him. At least the king would be alive, though it would be at the cost of something so deep and real having never happened at all.

_Helloo old friends. So I know this is short as can be, but it's just a little baby prologue. I'm aiming to post more tonight, but we'll see what happens. Also, just to be clear, I'm Rayla trash so she is going to be in this story. HashtagSpoilers. Anyway, follow and review or whatever if you wanna. I'd love to hear from you if you have something to say. _


	2. Feeling

When Callum walked into the dining room for breakfast, he was flooding with emotions when he saw Harrow at the table, sipping at his coffee and reading over some of his messages. When he noticed that Callum had arrived, Harrow bellowed a greeting to the prince. Ezran and Bait also seemed cheery enough as they shared a platter loaded with jelly tarts.

The only thing that gave Callum pause was when his mother entered the room, apologizing for her tardiness. Callum could feel his heart leap with joy, but he couldn't deny the overlaying sense of wrongness.

This can't be real, he thought to himself — Mom's dead. Mom is dead!

Still, when she hugged him and wished him a good morning, he couldn't deny how comfortable it would be to accept the lie.

To pretend that this was real and something wasn't appallingly wrong. It seemed that she couldn't sense his discomfort, and that only made him more uneasy. His mom always knew when something was wrong.

Everything looked perfect. The pancakes were excellent, his parents were alive, Ez seemed happy, but it felt wrong. It was like he was stepping into the past, stepping back into a pair of shoes he'd outgrown.

When he was alone, he tried to cast aspiro, but nothing happened. His connection to the sky arcanum wasn't there anymore.  
"Hey, Callum!" Claudia called out from across the courtyard.

Callum found himself taking a step back when he saw her. She looked like herself, aside from half of her hair being vibrant white. "Hey, Claudia," Callum said warily. "What happened to your hair?"

"Oh, this?" she said. "I dunno. I think a spell backfired or something. I think it suits me, though, don't you think?"

"Yeah, it's definitely something," Callum said. There was a part of him that felt that she was lying. She'd done something terrible. Something with dark magic.

It was unfounded, of course. It had all been a dream. A stupid dream.

When it was time to go back to sleep, he buried his head in his pillow and screamed. Why was he so miserable? Because of a dream?

No, it had to be more than a dream. He rolled over and glared at a pile of clothes that had built upon one of his chairs, and he couldn't help but smile when he saw the red scarf. He heard Rayla's voice in his head saying, 'I think it's good luck'.

The second he thought of her, he was suddenly angry again. Where was she? Logic told him that Rayla had never been real, to begin with, but he couldn't find it in him to accept that.

He got up and went to his window to gather his thoughts, breathing in the fresh summer air. He tried to calm his mind, but that proved itself to be impossible when he saw Viren walking through the courtyard. Callum instinctively ducked behind the wall when Viren glanced up at their tower window. It was the middle of the night...what was he doing out there?

Callum was getting redressed before he'd decided that he needed to follow the dark mage. He grabbed his scarf last, hoping that Rayla was right about it being lucky.

When he opened the door, the last thing he expected to see was Ezran sneaking out of his room with Bait tucked under one of his arms.

The brothers froze and looked at each other, trying to gauge what the other was thinking. After a few seconds, Ezran broke out into a grin. "You remember things, too, don't you?"

Callum grinned back, "I think so. It all kind of feels like a dream. What do you remember?"

"We can talk about that later," Ezran said. "Viren's up to something, and I think I know where he's going."

Callum couldn't argue with that, so he rushed down the stairs after his brother. They had to dodge the guards, but that had proved to be easier than Callum had expected. What he hadn't expected was that Ezran would pull back a portrait to reveal a tunnel within the walls.

They shut the hidden passage behind them and started to run. Where they were going, Callum had no idea, but he trusted Ezran.

They dashed through the hidden passage, Bait croaking and hopping at their heels. Before long, Callum was starting to get winded, but he kept going. They only slowed down when they realized that theirs weren't the only footfalls in the dark.  
When they saw who was in the tunnel with them, Ezran gave Callum a proud smiled, and Callum ruffled his brother's hair.  
Viren didn't seem to notice them as he strutted down the corridor, and Callum wanted to make sure they kept it that way. It felt like they were following him for an eternity before Viren unlocked a door and stepped inside, closing it behind him.

"What now?" Ezran asked.

"We can't just go barging in after him," Callum said. "I think we just need to wait."

"You can't electrocute him or something?" Ezran asked.

Callum brightened up at this, beaming. "No, I can't!"

"Why are you smiling like that?" Ezran asked.

"Because I might have been able to do magic," Callum said. "What else do you remember?"

"Less than I'd like. Everything's fuzzy like it was a dream. It can't have been a dream, though. Bait says he remembers everything," Ezran admitted. "I remember mom and dad were gone. I remember finding the egg, and we decided we had to get it back to Xadia. We wanted to stop the war. We were traveling with Rayla - "

"You remember Rayla?" Callum interrupted.

"Shh!" Ezran said, shoving Callum back into the shadows before joining him.

Viren was leaving the room in a huff, grumbling to himself. Ezran and Callum hardly breathed until the mage had passed them. They didn't move or breathe until they couldn't hear his footsteps.

"This isn't the same room the egg was in," Ezran said as Callum tested the handle, discovering the door was locked. "What do you think's in here?"

"I dunno," Callum sighed. "It doesn't look like there's any way in, though, not unless you have a key."

Ezran gave Callum a blank look before pushing his brother aside. He took something out of his hair and started fiddling with the lock. It wasn't long before the latch gave way, and the door swung open.

"Where did you learn to do that?" Callum asked, mildly impressed.

"No door can hold me," Ezran said with a laugh.

They shut and locked the door behind them before they started snooping around. It seemed like an ordinary storage room, full of empty bottles and bolts of fabric, but there was more to it than that.

Ezran was poking around in the cupboards, and Callum had been taken by something under a sheet, propped up against the wall. When he uncovered it, he found an ornate mirror. He couldn't understand why it would be in storage and not hanging in a guest room. He touched the glass carefully, thoughtfully. Something about the piece drew him like a moth to a flame. He only moved away from the mirror when Ezran called for him.

"What'd you find, Ez?" Callum asked, covering to mirror again.

Ezran didn't answer but pointed into a wardrobe on the wall beside the door. The top shelf was loaded with empty bottles that had names inked on them. Callum read over the names carefully. There were so many of them, and all of them were people he knew. Soren, Amaya, Claudia, Gren, Corvus, Opeli, Ezran, and Callum.

Callum stood on his toes to take his and Ezran's jars, looking them over. They seemed empty. He tried to twist the tops of the bottles off, but they wouldn't budge.

"Callum," Ezran whispered, distracting him from the bottles. He pointed at the door, which was being unlocked from the other side.

Viren was back.

_Happy Almost American Thanksgivinggg. I don't know how fast I'll do this, how much I'll get done, or how long it'll be, but it will be a nice reprieve since there's no Season 4 yet. I'm going through withdrawals, helllp. Anyway, I'll do this as I can. If you wanna leave a review or follow me or whatever that's super nice, and I would appreciate it a lot, and I won't lie is definitely a motivator for me to write me. _


	3. The Mirror

The door shut behind Viren with a resounding thud, and he locked it behind him. He took a deep breath before he peeled the sheet off the mirror Callum had just been looking at before casting the fabric onto the floor.

"I hope you're planning on being more cooperative now," Viren said.

In the wardrobe, Callum and Ezran looked at each other, stunned that Viren knew they were there. Despite their terror, they kept their mouths shut, hoping he wouldn't find them.

Viren wasn't speaking with the princes, though. The mage blew out the candle, and the room was engulfed in shadow. For a moment, nothing happened, but before long, the mirror illuminated, revealing something inside.

Callum and Ezran couldn't see what was inside, but Viren could, and his tone implied that the mirror's contents made him incredibly smug.

"Are you ready to talk now?"

Though Callum and Ezran couldn't hear who Viren was talking to, they knew the voice that answered.

It was Rayla.

"It doesn't matter how much you hurt me. I don't know anything," she snarled.

Ezran and Callum looked at each other, confirming that they both heard her. Callum then put a finger to his mouth, indicating that they needed to stay quiet. Ezran nodded to show he understood

"You're trying my patience, elf," Viren snarled.

"And your trying mine!" Rayla snapped back. "I already told you, I don't know anything!"

"And you're standing by the story where you don't know me?"

"Trust me, if I'd ever had the displeasure of meeting ya, I'd remember," Rayla snarled.

Ezran looked back at Callum, who looked equally confused by this. Rayla had met Viren, and as she had said, it was unlikely that the meeting had been one that she would forget. Unless...

Callum didn't have a chance to complete his thought, as Bait unleashed an ungodly massive belch.

Viren turned and fixed the wardrobe with a glare. Callum didn't dare speak, but he had a series of thoughts. Half of them were a series of curse words; the other half was that he was going to die, and Viren was going to be the one to kill him. Ezran was covering Bait's mouth, but it was too late for that. Meanwhile, Callum was looking for anything he could use to fend Viren off. It seemed futile, though, but he grabbed the first thing solid his hands fell on.

Callum pulled Ezran to the back of the wardrobe, but there was no escape. The doors opened, and the glow coming off the mirror outlined Viren's silhouette.

"I should have known," Viren grumbled. "Get out of there."

Callum didn't obey but threw his quarry at Viren, who dodged it, the item zipping past him and striking something on the other side of the room with a resounding crack.

Ezran and Callum shut their eyes right as Bait started to grumble before he emitted a blinding flash that sent Viren reeling back. Callum rushed out of the wardrobe and sent some of the bottles above crashing onto the stone floor.

Before the princes could process what had happened, something rushed out of the bottles, like a gale of wind. Ezran and Callum both understood everything then, and their memories returned in a fell swoop.

"What did you do to me?" Callum asked. He remembered, but it was was still fuzzy. The last thing he recalled was being at Viren's knees and something happening to him, and it felt like all the air had been pulled from his lungs before the world went black. What came next was just a dream. The dream he'd woken up from that morning.

Viren laughed at this. "Don't you remember?"

The dark mage was lifting his staff to do a spell, but before he could do the spell, the glass of the mirror shattered, and the room went dark.

_So this is about half of what I was planning on writing for this chapter, but I've had a very long holiday and this felt like an evil place for a cliffhanger. _


	4. Into The Woods

What started as a small crack soon became and explosive shatter that deafened the room followed by the rushing of water that flooded the room from the mirror. Viren screamed in anger, but the noise was drowned out by the wave that swept into the room.

Callum managed to grab onto Ezran before the water hit them and the current swept Viren into the door, pinning him there and knocking the staff out of his hand. Everything happened so fast that it was unclear what had shot out of the frame of the mirror, but whatever it was stuck Viren on the head hard enough that it knocked him out cold.

"Stupid humans," Rayla grumbled as she crawled out of the mirror, drenched from head to foot. She didn't even look at Ezran or Callum. Instead, she picked up what she had thrown at Viren, which seemed like a bent piece of metal. Despite this, Rayla put it in her belt and started rummaging through one of the drawers, where she found her swords. She unfolded them in a quick motion and with a flick of her wrists turned the blades into hooks before refolding them and putting them away before she started rummaging through the drawer again.

"Are you okay?" Callum asked, taking a wary step forward.

Rayla raised an eyebrow at him. "Are you talkin' to me?"

Ezran didn't share in his brother's caution and rushed at Rayla, hugging her tightly around the waist. Even Bait greeted her, croaking and nuzzling her leg. "We were worried about you."

Rayla looked down at Ezran and then back at Callum. "I'm sorry, I think you've mixed me up with someone else."

"No, we didn't," Ezran said with a laugh. "There's only one Rayla."

Rayla gently pried Ezran off her and said, "Look, you seem sweet, considerin' my experience with humans thus far, but I don't have time for this." She sifted through the drawer a little more before she found her quarry. It was a stone that she promptly put in her pocket.

"Why did Viren put you in a mirror?" Ezran asked.

Rayla heaved an annoyed sigh. "Look, he thought I knew something I don't know so he kept me in that thing. Thought that havin' me take a swim would make me chatty."

"He tried to drown you?" Callum asked, his voice suddenly dark as he glared down at Viren.

"Somethin' like that," Rayla scoffed. "If it weren't for his heart tie I'd probably kill him for it."

"Heart tie?" Ezran asked.

"It's not important," Rayla said, moving past them and shoving Viren aside before opening the door. "I have to get goin'."

"Well we're going with you," Callum said. "Something's not right here. We'll be safer in Xadia until we can figure out what's going on."

Rayla fixed him with a look for a moment before she burst out laughing. "You think I'm going to just walk into Xadia with two humans and...that thing?" she gestured at Bait, who grunted.

"Did Viren do something to your horns?" Ezran asked.

"What're you talkin' about?"

Rather than answering, Ezran started looking for a piece of broken mirror.

Callum got a shock when Viren began to stir. In his surprise, Callum sprung at Rayla and threw his arms around her, pulling her tight against him. She, in turn, pushed him away and knelt down next to Viren. Before the man regained consciousness, Rayla struck him with a few jabs that were so quick that Callum barely registered that she'd hit the dark mage at all.

"What did you do to him?" Callum asked.

"He'll be fine...eventually," Rayla said. "I told you, I can't kill him because of the heart tie. I mean, I could, but

Ezran had returned with a piece of the mirror and gave it to Rayla. She took the glass and looked in the mirror, but what she saw stunned her into silence. There was a long white stripe down the length of both her horns. When she reached up to feel them the worry on her face deepened. The indents were deep.

"Did Viren do that?" Callum asked.

She shook her head, "No. I would have done this to myself."

"Is it just...decorative?" Ezran asked.

"It's a spell," she said. "It explains some things, like why he thought I knew where the dragon queen was."

"Shouldn't she be in the Storm Spire?" Callum asked.

"That's what I thought, but he refuses to accept that as an answer. I must have done the spell so he wouldn't be able to find her," Rayla said. She took out the black stone she'd taken out of the drawer and gave it a thoughtful look before turning her gaze back to Callum. "This isn't our first time meeting, is it?" When Callum and Ezran shook their heads she heaved a sigh and said. "Alright then. I have one question for both of you then. Can I trust you?"

"Of course you can," Callum said.

Despite their history, he was expecting that Rayla was going to doubt them and argue, but instead, she nodded, slipped the stone back into her pocket and asked who knew the way out. Ezran volunteered the guide them to the courtyard.

Callum tried to say that he and Ezran should get some things, but Ezran and Rayla both felt that time was of the essence. Rayla dug into Viren's pockets and found two pouches of coins in there and tossed them to Callum. "What we can't live without we can buy on the way."

Ezran managed to get them out of the tunnels and once they were in the courtyard Rayla was the one who directed them, guiding them around the guards through the shadows. Bait almost gave them away a few times, but after Rayla lost her temper and threatened to throw the glow toad in a sack he managed to keep from glowing.

"She didn't mean it, Bait," Ezran assured the glow toad quietly. "She just doesn't remember that you two are friends. You remember how she was when we first met us."

Bait grunted, both satisfied and disappointed with Ezran's explanation.

The path they took into the forest felt familiar, even to Rayla. They weren't far down their path when Rayla stopped, holding out her arm to indicate that her companions should stop too.

"What's wrong?" Callum asked, keeping his voice low.

Rayla unsheathed her swords and took a defensive stance in front of the princes and the glow toad. "Stay behind me. There's someone here...they're headed right for us."

_omigawd another cliff hanger! I'm the worst, I know. Does anyone have any guesses as to who - or what- is in the woods? I mean, I know, I'm just curious if there's anyone you're expecting or hoping for. Anyway, leave me me a review and follow this thing if you want to see who's in the forest. Also sad Bait makes author sad. _


	5. Fluffy

"There you are! I was worried you wouldn't be coming this way."

Callum and Ezran both heaved relieved sighs when they saw Soren, but Rayla stayed in her defensive position.

"That's close enough," she snapped.

"Rayla, it's okay!" Callum assured her. "Soren's a friend!"

Rayla didn't look convinced, her suspicions deepening when Soren smiled, but she eventually got out of her defensive stance. Despite this, she still held her swords aloft and ready.

"Soren, what're you doing out here?" Ezran asked.

"Well, I'm pretty sure my dad did some weird dark magic on me because everything with the Storm Spire felt like it was...I dunno, a dream or something. Then out of nowhere, bam! It was like I remembered everything again, so I came out here, just...hoping you'd come this way."

"Do you think those jars we broke had our memories in them?" Ezran asked.

"It could be," Callum said. "Soren, did you bring any supplies?"

"I brought all the supplies," Soren said. "And rides too! I figured the elf girl would be here, so I grabbed her kitty."

"You grabbed my what?" Rayla repeated.

Before Soren could clarify, the moon mount bounded out from the shadows behind Soren. It moved forward to nuzzle Rayla, who finally put her swords away to hug the beast.

"Yeah, I don't know what that thing is," Soren admitted.

"He's a shadowpaw," Rayla said as she scratched the creature behind his ear. "Why's he here?"

"Ethari sent him and the moonstrider with us," Callum said.

Rayla looked confused at this. "Where's the moonstrider then?"

"Uhhhhhhhhhhhh," Callum said, not wanting to meet her eye. "Well, we kind of lost her."

"Lost her?" Rayla repeated.

"In the desert," Callum said. "It's a long story."

Rayla didn't look convinced, but despite that, she climbed onto the shadowpaw's back, giving him another scratch behind the ear. "Fluffy won't be able to carry all of us, so I hope you have horses or somethin'."

"I have...one horse," Soren admitted. "We're gonna have to buddy up. I'll take the king and Bait."

"Wait a minute," Ezran said. "You're saying the shadowpaw's name...is Fluffy?"

"I didn't name him," Rayla said defensively.

"Well, regardless of how named Fluffy, you and your boyfriend are gonna have to buddy up," Soren said.

"Boyfriend?" Rayla asked, glancing down at Callum with a slightly offended look. "You're implyin' that he's my boyfriend?"

"Can we go?" Callum asked, his tone almost frantic. "I mean, seriously, can we just go? We don't have forever just to sit around here talking all night!"

No one had any argument for that. Still, it was awkward for them to get going, as Callum kept slipping out of the saddle. Finally, Rayla grabbed his arm and put his hand on her shoulder before repeating the process with the other side, not wanting his arm around her.

Soren had the path laid out for them, so he led them through the forest. It wasn't long before Ezran and Bait fell asleep in the saddle, but no one else was comfortable enough for sleep. The light of dawn was glowing above the trees before they finally stopped to rest.

Rayla assigned herself to keep watch first. Before anyone could argue, she was already gone, jumping up into the trees and away from the humans. In truth, she needed some time to figure everything out.

The last thing she remembered was hearing the news about what had happened to Avizandum. What her parents had done. She'd had a chance to redeem what honor was lost with her parents, but now everything had gone all wrong, somehow. Now she was roughing it with humans. She'd been held captive by a dark mage, who insisted that she knew where the dragon queen and the dragon prince were, which was simply madness. The last thing she'd heard was that the dragon prince's egg had been destroyed, but that wasn't the case. There was some hope in that. Hope for peace.

But then again, it seemed she'd already gone down that path. How much time had she lost? She didn't know.

When she returned to camp Ezran was still asleep, cuddled up with Bait and the shadowpaw, but Callum and Soren were discussing their next move. She decided to wait in her tree for them to finish talking before she jumped in on them.

"If we jump on a ferry and then take a boat, we can get to the border faster. Time is of the essence right now so the faster we can get to Xadia and figure out what's going on - "

"We're not taking a boat," Callum said. "Viren would expect us to take the fastest path."

"So there's more reason for us to get on the fastest path faster," Soren said. "Maybe we can get the moon lady to help. We can camp out with her for a few days to plan our next move."

"Lujanne?" Callum asked. "I'm sure she would help, but we're still riding to the nexus."

"Are you not hearing me?" Soren asked. "The boat is faster. What's the issue here?"

After a moment of consideration, Callum said, "Rayla doesn't like water. She'd probably kill me for telling you, but everything must be weird enough for her as it is. We don't need to make it worse."

Rayla perked up at this.

"I think your girlfriend can handle a boat ride for the greater good, here," Soren argued.

"Well then, we won't make a decision until we talk to her about it too," Callum said.

"Fine, whatever floats your boat. Or, you know...doesn't," Soren said.

Ralya watched them for a bit longer, her lips pressed into a hard worried line. She had to get home. She had to find a way to undo her own forgetfulness spell. Everything would be fine, though; Ethari or Runaan would be able to undo the spell. She hoped so, at least. She just needed to get back home.

_Helloo frends. Who here's dealing with finals? I'm so sorry, and may the odds be ever in your favor. Don't forget to leave a review and follow the story if you like it. Talk to you later!_


	6. The Wolf Girl

Rayla raised an eyebrow at Callum when he sat down on the deck of the ferry beside her, tentatively placing a bucket in front of her. He didn't say anything but drummed his fingers on his knees and kept his eyes fixed ahead of him, not daring to look at her.

"What's this?" she asked, at last, picking up the bucket.

"Just in case you get sick," he said.

She grumbled indignantly but kept the bucket in front of her. Rayla didn't want to admit it but she was feeling a bit nauseous. It didn't help that she had to keep her hood up to hide her horns. It was hot under her cloak.

"So we're going to see this Luanne person up the Cursed Caldara before we head into Xadia then?" she asked. She had decided to trust Soren and Callum with the plan, considering how many things she'd forgotten.

Callum nodded, "Yeah, only her name's Lajanne. She's a moonshadow elf too, and a mage, so she might be able to help with your whole...brain...thing."

"I don't need a mage," Rayla said. "This can only be broken by family."

Callum's blood suddenly ran cold. "You mean...like...your parents?"

"Family's more than blood," Rayla said. "But in theory, my parents would be able to, but they're...well, you know." She hadn't known what had happened to her parents, but Callum had told her the gist, making sure to elaborate on how Rayla's parents had saved Zym's egg.

"So...someone who's family is the only one who can break the spell then," Callum said. There was a part of him that wanted to know if he could break the spell, like something out of an old fairytale, but he thought better of it and kept that thought to himself.

Rayla nodded, "I wouldn't have done the spell if I didn't know of someone who could break it, and I know of at least two. Maybe three, but I'm hopin' it won't come to the third."

"Anyone I know?" Callum asked, forcing himself to push down the hope that one of them was him.

"Uh...maybe," Rayla said. "One would be Runaan."

Callum made a slight hissing noise through his teeth. He'd forgotten to tell her about Runaan. He'd tried to keep all of his news as good as possible. In retrospect, that might have not been the best plan.

"He didn't make it back, did he?" Rayla asked, her voice quiet and calm.

"No, I'm sorry, Rayla."

She shrugged, "It's alright. That was always a risk. There's still Ethari, as long as he's not a ghost or anythin'."

"Uhhhhhhh," Callum said, "I've...I've met Ethari and...well...he wasn't a ghost."

Rayla glared at him. "Why are you stammerin'?" When he didn't elaborate she snapped, "Just spit it out!"

"You're a ghost. You're...yeah, I didn't think it was important and — "

"You didn't think it was important?" Rayla bellowed as she shot onto her feet. "How could that not be important?"

"I just didn't want to upset you," Callum said. "Last I heard from Ethari he was trying to get the others to reverse the spell, but he didn't know how it was going to go so...you might be...resurrected? Unghosted? I don't know what the term for that would be. You can still get the spell undone though, right? You said there was a third person. We can still do this!"

Rayla put her hand in her face and heaved a heavy sigh. "If that's what it comes to, but it could take us weeks to find them, and even if we do find them we aren't exactly on speakin' terms."

"It can't hurt to try," Callum offered as he stood up.

Rayla didn't answer but glared at him for almost a minute before storming off. She knew that it was unlikely her third option wouldn't help her. They were family, after all. Her main concern was time. Now she had to rethink her entire strategy.

Rayla was still brooding by the time they got off their ferry. She had refused to ride because she didn't want Callum to touch her. She ended up running ahead to 'scout the area', but in reality, she just needed time to brood. She was getting a bit too far ahead of the group. There was snow up ahead, but Rayla didn't let it bother her.

She only stopped when she heard that she wasn't alone anymore. Rayla stood still and silent, listening to her surroundings. She was going to fold her swords, but she stopped herself when she heard that the other person was just a kid.

Going against her better judgment, Rayla tracked down the other person until she arrived in a clearing. There she found a little girl and a giant wolf, who yipped bounded at her, almost knocking her over and covering the elf's face with slobbery kisses.

Rayla wanted to ask for help but kept her mouth shut tight so that the wolf wouldn't get its tongue in her mouth.

"Ava, stop it!" the girl said as she shoved the wolf away. When she saw who the dog was licking, however, the girl's face lit up and she threw herself onto Rayla, hugging her tightly. "No wonder Ava was so excited! It's so good to see you, Rayla!"

Rayla tentatively patted the girl's back, thinking to herself that she seemed to have more human friends than she would have expected. "Hey...uh….I'm sorry. I kinda have a spell on me so I've forgotten a lot of things."

The girl pulled away. "Oh, I see. That's fine, though. Just because you don't remember me and Ava doesn't mean we aren't still friends. What're you doing up here, anyway? You're not going to see Lujanne, are you? She's been kind of...busy lately."

"Uh...yeah, we are actually," she said. "How do you know Lujanne?"

"The same way you do," the little girl said. "I'm Ellis, by the way. When you say 'we' do you mean Ezran and Callum too?"

"Yeah," Rayla said, becoming slightly unsettled with everything Ellis knew. "Soren too. I'm just scouting ahead. What's going on with Lujanne?"

Ellis' face twisted into a grimace. "Soren's with you? That's weird. I thought you hated him."

Rayla shrugged, "Honestly, I don't know if I hated him, but he seems alright now. What's goin' on with the moon mage?"

Ellis glanced up at Eva, who whined in response. "I don't really know, to be honest. All I know is that it has something to do with a curse, a real curse. I can lead you guys up there, though. Lujanne showed me a path that only takes an hour or two instead of all night."

"We'll have to wait for the others," Rayla said. Despite everything, including how mad she was at Callum, she didn't want to be alone on this journey.

_Can I just say how much I love Ava and Ellis? I love them. They're the cuteness. Anyway, leave a review and follow if you wanna know what happens next, and happy holidayysss! I'm planning on posting again before 2020 at least once or twice, but still...happy holidays. _


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